1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement in dispensers for notepaper, and in one aspect to an improved dispenser formed of inexpensive card stock but having reliability during the dispensing of the entire supply of notepapers therefrom.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention provides an improvement in a dispenser for dispensing serially sheets of material which are provided in a stack. Prior dispensers for sheets of notepaper are known, and specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,392, issued Nov. 22, 1983, and assigned to the assignee of this application, discloses a dispenser for dispensing sheets of material wherein each sheet is adhered to the next adjacent sheet by a narrow band of adhesive material with the adhesive coated on one side of each sheet on alternately opposite edges of successive sheets. In the embodiment of the dispenser shown in the patent the sheets were dispensed from a stack through an opening in the package for the stack of material. In one embodiment the stack of sheets is moved upwardly toward the top of the dispenser where the walls defining the top of the dispenser were inclined with respect to each other. In the dispenser illustrated the construction was usable as a refillable desk dispenser and was formed from rigid material. In the embodiment formed from paper stock, the sheets were not urged toward the opening and the dispenser was provided with a slot through which the sheets could be withdrawn from the stack. Withdrawing one sheet from the stack removed the next adjacent sheet due to the adhesive coating on one edge of one sheet withdrawing through the opening the adhesive-free edge of the next adjacent sheet as the sheets were dispensed. The dispensed sheet was then peeled from the next adjacent sheet where the edges were adhered together by a repositionable adhesive. When the stack in such a dispenser was partially used the force necessary to withdraw the sheets from the dispenser was no longer greater than the force necessary to peel the dispensed sheet from the next adjacent sheet and thus the dispensing force would withdraw sheets from the dispenser successively without separation.
Improvements to maintain the dispensing force greater than the peel force to separate the sheets led to the development of several novel dispensers wherein the dispensing opening was formed by flexible flaps of card stock which overlap. These flaps relied on the resilience of the card stock to close the flaps, for permitting the peeling of the dispensed sheet from the next sheet and for supporting the free end of the adjacent sheet in a position to be readily grasped and dispensed.
In each of these dispensers it was found that they caused a curl to be formed in the sheets of notepaper which extended across the sheet parallel to the adhesive coated edge. This curl caused the edge of the note sheet opposite the adhesive coated edge to stand up from the receptor surface. This has a negative effect as the note sheets are more easily dislodged from the receptor surface as a result of the transverse curl. Further, the earlier designs caused the working or reaction forces as the sheets were dispensed to be concentrated in areas adjacent the edges of the dispensing openings. This concentration of the dispensing forces made the earlier card stock dispenser prone to tearing along the edges and soon the dispensers were ineffective for maintaining the dispensing force greater than the peeling force necessary to separate a dispensed sheet from the adjacent sheet. Further, different ambient environments for the dispensers formed of card stock resulted in the material becoming limp if exposed to too much humidity or brittle when too dry and making the same inconsistent as to their performance for dispensing the notepaper sheets.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a disposable, reliable, easily decorated and readily processed and packaged dispenser for sheets of notepaper placed in a stack with each sheet adhered to the next adjacent sheet by a narrow band of adhesive material coated on one side of each sheet adjacent alternately opposite edges of successive sheets.
The dispenser of the present invention will be provided with means for maintaining the dispensing of the notepapers consistent throughout the stack of notepaper. The dispenser is disposable but yet durable during the dispensing operation.
The notepaper dispenser of the present invention is particularly novel in that flaps of flexible polymeric material are disposed along the dispensing opening to bend and define a surface over which the sheets are drawn as they are dispensed. The bowed or curved dispensing edge restricts the bow or curl developing transversely of the notepaper sheets during the dispensing operation. The dispenser is also formed with a biasing means within the dispenser to bias the sheets toward the dispensing opening such that the dispensing force will exceed the peeling force and all of the sheets will be dispensed in a generally consistent manner as concerns force, curl, and sheet separation.